Virgin Australia Resumes Flights To New Zealand With First Queenstown Service

Dust off your passports because Virgin Australia has just touched down on New Zealand soil for the first time in nearly 1,000 days, with a wonderful celebration to mark the airline’s resumed flights to Queenstown. The first flights from Brisbane and Sydney have already arrived at Queenstown International Airport, creating a new way to travel between Australia and New Zealand, ready for adventure seekers and returning friends and family, ahead of the summer holiday season.

Excited guests onboard the first flight were surprised with mini ‘Peace Pavlovas’ ahead of departure, as part of the not-so-subtle friendly rift on the dessert’s origin. Once and for all, Flight Hacks can confirm this to be Australia.

Virgin Australia Group CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said today’s flight marked a significant day for Virgin Australia and its guests as the airline’s network expansion continues.

“Australians and New Zealanders have a close bond and we are proud to be creating a new gateway between the countries for friends and family to visit each other, businesses to flourish and holiday-makers to seek adventure with more choice and great value airfares,” she said.

“We are proud to continue growing the Virgin Australia international network which now offers over 500 destinations around the world. We have the most exceptional international airline partners and they help us deliver the very best and most easily reached global destinations,” said Ms Hrdlicka.

Virgin’s New Queenstown Flight Schedule

From today, Virgin Australia will run daily flights to Queenstown from both Brisbane and Sydney. Melbourne sees four return services per week from 3 November 2022, with daily flights are scheduled for the summer peak, between 12 December 2022 and 29 January 2023.

Here’s a look at Virgin’s reintroduced Queenstown schedule;

• VA161 Sydney to Queenstown ~ 9:50 am to 2:50 pm (3h)
• VA162 Queenstown to Sydney ~ 3:40 pm to 5:00 pm (3h20m)
• VA143 Melbourne to Queenstown ~ 8:25 am to 1:35 pm (3h 10m
• VA166 Queenstown to Melbourne ~ 2:30 pm to 4:05 pm (3h 35m)
• VA115 Brisbane to Queenstown ~ 9:35 am to 4:05 pm (3h 30m)
• VA118 Queenstown to Brisbane ~ 4:55 pm to 5:40 pm (3h 45m)

Virgin’s Return To Queenstown Sale

To mark the occasion, Virgin Australia has unleashed 15,000 Economy fares from $409 return in a mammoth five-day sale, offering great value for Australians and New Zealanders wishing to fly across The Ditch. Also snag up to $120 off return bookings to Queenstown, made before 6th November 2022. Discounted services include;

• Adelaide: $375 one-way $605 return
• Brisbane: $299 one-way $519 return
• Canberra: $315 one-way $545 return
• Gold Coast: $385 one-way $685 return
• Melbourne: $259 one-way $409 return
• Perth: $539 one-way $995 return
• Sydney: $309 one-way $539 return

Find and book sale fares here.

How To Redeem Discounted Virgin Australia Business To Queenstown

Virgin’s return to New Zealand reopens a sneaky flight redemption sweet spot that could save you thousands. Of course, it is possible to book Virgin Australia Reward seats to Queenstown using your Velocity Frequent Flyer Points. Between Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane and Queenstown, you will need 17,800 Velocity Points in Economy or 35,500 points for Business. That’s in addition to a not-so-fantastic carrier surcharge of around $170 in each direction.

Although, as a partner airline of Virgin Australia, redemptions via the Etihad Guest program require significantly fewer miles than you’d need to book with Velocity. Departing Sydney, you can secure an Economy seat for just 6,900 Etihad Guest Miles, or Business for 13,800 Etihad Guest Miles. Brisbane departures require 10,900 and 21,800 Etihad Guest Miles respectively.

Of course, Business Class is where the real sweet spot lies with a significant saving on Velocity’s asking price. Unfortunately, the redemption route information listed on Etihad’s redemption table for travel with Virgin Australia isn’t entirely up to date. Some routes are missing, including Melbourne to Queenstown, while others are incorrectly priced or showing discontinued services. However, we can confirm that the Etihad Guest Miles required for Virgin’s Queenstown services are correct.

How to book Virgin Australia redemptions via Etihad Guest

Virgin Australia award flights aren’t bookable via the Etihad Guest website. Instead, you’ll need to call the Etihad Guest service line on +61 130 053 2215, select from the menu options and request a redemption using your Guest Miles.

It is also a good idea to search for award availability via the Velocity website, to get an idea of the dates and times available for redemption. There’s no guarantee that the Etihad Guest inventory will mirror what’s shown on the Velocity website, although in many cases it will be the same.

Inside The Cockpit For Virgin’s Return To Queenstown

Known for its beautiful and challenging approach, Virgin Australia shared cockpit footage of the first VA161 from Sydney touching down at Queenstown Airport. You can check it out here;